Malloy-Good loses election, family court position

WEST CHESTER — The elimination of a court position in Chester County Family Court that deals with complex divorce cases has sparked complaints and concerns from a number of attorneys in the county who say they fear the replacement system will prove less than efficient.

In addition, because the special hearing master whose position will cease at the end of 2013 is Julia Malloy-Good, the Democratic candidate who came close to winning a seat on the county Common Pleas Court bench this month, some have speculated that there was more to the decision by President Judge James P. MacElree II to do away with the job than meets the eye.

On Nov. 5, Malloy-Good placed third in the three-way race for two seats on the Common Pleas bench. She received an unofficial 34,884 votes, just 1,917 behind the 36,801 votes that the second place finisher, Republican Jeffrey Sommer, received. The leader, Republican Patrick Carmody, received an unofficial 41,172 votes.

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Two days later, on Nov. 7, Malloy-Good was told by the supervising judge in county Family Court, Katherine B.L. Platt, that the position she had held for two years — special master for complex support cases — would be eliminated, effective Dec. 31, an attorney familiar with the situation said in a recent interview. The position had reportedly been included in the county’s proposed 2014 budget.

Malloy-Good, reached Wednesday, declined to make any comment on the matter beyond confirming that she had been told that her position would not be renewed in 2014. “I am glad to have had to opportunity to serve the court,” she said.

The announcement did not come as a complete surprise, as there had been discussions for several weeks about the possibility that the master’s position would be reviewed at the conclusion of the election, those familiar with the situation said. But it nevertheless came as a disappointment to those in the county’s Family Court bar, who described the present system of using a special master for those support cases as having proven a huge benefit to their clients and the overall court system.

Masters are attorneys who handle civil or juvenile court cases to reduce the burden on Common Pleas judges. They have been in use for more than two decades, and have proven successful in dealing with the court’s general caseload.

“The general consensus among the Family Law bar is one of concern and unhappiness,” said the attorney who learned of the decision but, like others interviewed about the matter, spoke on condition of anonymity because of a fear of angering MacElree and other judges and thus possibly damaging their clients’ positions in court.

“The system was really working well,” the attorney stated. “There was no backlog. I don’t understand why the decision was made. It wasn’t a financial one, because I don’t think it’s going to save the county money. And the timing of it makes it look ugly.”

The attorney said that Malloy-Good had been able to settle most of the child and spousal disputes that came before her without a formal hearing, and had made amicable decisions in those cases that went further.

“This is a disappointment, a huge disappointment,” said another attorney who handles divorces cases in the county. “The work that (Malloy-Good) was doing for the people involved in complex support cases has been invaluable. The depth and breath of her expertise in understanding these cases is huge. And it was the creation of that position that has allowed our Family Court to be incredibly current,” the attorney said, adding that the ultimate sufferers would be those parties who wanted to resolve their cases in an expedited manner.

“If it’s not broken, why fix it?” said the second attorney, who said she agreed “to a degree” that political motivations may have had something to do with the decision.

Among the selling points Malloy-Good used in seeking support from voters was that, as master, she alone among the three candidates had some real-time experience hearing cases in court. That experience would not be current if she decides to seek a court position in the future once the position is eliminated, an observer said.

One other attorney, a veteran of divorce law, agreed that colleagues in the county’s family bar had all been asking the question why the system would indeed be changed. “It is pretty much universally agreed that the hearing officer (Malloy-Good) did an excellent job, and the process she established was an excellent process.

“Will the new process be OK? I can’t say,” the third attorney said. “I have to assume that (MacElree) did this for a bona-fide reason, that was not related to Julia’s qualifications.”

On the other hand, attorney Lawrence J. Persick, the co-chairman of the Chester County Bar Association’s Family Law Committee, said that he did not believe that doing away with Malloy-Good’s position would cause any major disruption in the system.

“Does it concern me? No,” said Persick in an interview last week. “Will we miss Julia? Yes. Did she resolve a big backlog? Yes. We will miss her. But we’re not going to a new procedure. We are just going back to the old procedure.”

MacElree, a stalwart Republican, said in response to an e-mail with questions about the decision that the position of complex support master had from its inception two years ago been considered temporary, set to expire when the two new judges came to the bench to return it to a full compliment of sitting judges in 2014. He said the ultimate plan was part of an overall “austerity program” requested of the courts by the county commissioners and the state Supreme Court.

“We have worked hard to conserve and protect valuable taxpayer dollars,” MacElree wrote in an e-mail. “We reduced the number of positions in many court departments, including Common Pleas judges, (magisterial district judges), and other employees. I think as a whole we have been running the system very efficiently and saving taxpayer funds while at the same time providing needed judicial services to the public.”

He said he would “absolutely reject” any suggestion that his decision was motivated by political considerations. “That is just not true. If politics had been involved then it unlikely any Democrat would have been hired in the first place.

“Also, had the master won the race for judge there would be no complaint prompting your question,” he wrote.

MacElree said that the elimination of the position would permit the complex support cases — those involving parties with complicated tax and income issues — to return to being heard by Common Pleas judges and not a special master.

“I think that is a more direct and efficient process which often costs the system and the litigants less time and money,” he wrote.

Although specific judicial calendars, staffing, and other considerations had not been finalized for the coming year, he said the plan is for the court to use the services of Senior Judge Ronald Nagle to hear complex support cases, and a per diem attorney to settle pre-trial matters.

He calculated the direct cost to county taxpayers as “zero,” since Nagle’s salary would be paid for by the state. He said that Malloy-Good salary had been subsidized by the state as much as 66 percent, but that would still be more than what Nagle would cost the county.

“Putting the costs aside, long-day support trials, like custody trials, are only properly done by Common Pleas judges,” he said.

Two of the attorneys who were critical of the decision, however, noted that Nagle, while an experienced judge and attorney, had no significant expertise in support cases, unlike for judges who had heard the matters. In addition, Nagle can only work 10 days a month under his senior status.

“That is a concern in and of itself,” said one of the attorneys. “Ten days a month is not a lot of time.”

“These support cases are going to back up,” said another of the attorneys interviewed.” “They are going to clog. Why would you create a whole other mess? That when it starts to look political.

Two of the county’s three commissioners said in response to questions that they were inclined to let MacElree run the county’s judicial system as he saw fit.

“This seems a perfectly reasonable decision by a president judge,” said Commissioners’ Chairman Ryan Costello on Friday. “Who am I to make any inquiry into whether support cases should be heard by a master or a judge?”

But he and Vice Chairman Kathi Cozzone both said that if the new system of hearing such cases costs the county more or is not revenue neutral, there could be a “legitimate inquiry” into the decision.

“Politically, it looks bad,” said Cozzone Friday. “But I do understand that it was the plan all along.”